Close to the Heart

Five minutes had past, and then ten minutes and nobody came back into the cabin. I was expecting at least Jason to come back in and pull me out of the room so we could all do something, but I was wrong. I continued to just lie in my bed occasionally rubbing my stomach. I felt miserable right now. Eating twelve doughnuts should be illegal. I can’t believe I was dumb enough to take that bet and attempt to go through with it.

Those ten minutes soon turned into half an hour and I was more irritated than I was twenty minutes ago. Why did Jason and Nate bother coming if they weren’t going to even drag me out of bed? Wasn’t that the whole point, to actually spend some time with me since they’re pretty much being a couple of nitwits playing video games all day long? Sure they could blame Shane for not having anything planned this summer, but they could be at this camp as well being counselors or whatever Shane is supposed to do. They could read to the blind or open Toys for Tots, anything, but no they didn’t.

They have the whole summer to themselves and the only reason I’m mad at them is because they listen to Shane. Nate always says he doesn’t allow anyone to tell him what to do, minus his mother of course, yet here he is. They didn’t have to drive all the way down to Camp Middle of Nowhere and bring Shane his doughnuts. Those sons of … those morons.

I tried moving, to at least stand up, but I couldn’t move. It was a bad move on my part going straight to lie down after consuming thousands of calories in a few hours. As much as I enjoy spending time with Shane, I wanted to punch in his face right about now.

Maybe all these games were playing with each other should be put to an end. I’m already in pain from a simple bet and I can only imagine what Shane is going through. Now that I think about it, that jerk is probably enjoying himself. He knows that he’s won and I’m starting to fall for him like he was falling for me.

I’m probably not in pain at all, it’s probably that cliché everyone uses. I probably have butterflies fluttering around in my stomach area.

I quickly sat up and ended up falling back down. I curled myself into a ball as I lay on the bed. Shane Gray might as well have knocked me up and left me alone forever. He was probably having a grand ole time with his band mates and completely forgotten about me.

I wondered if Mrs. Torres had anything to help cure this unbearable pain. She was a mother and Mitchie looked like the type of girl that would get sick a lot. If only I could find a way to get up. Maybe if I scream Jason’s name loud enough he could come to my rescue and carry me towards the kitchen or her cabin.

All this thinking and of course the food was starting to make me sleepy. They weren’t coming back anyways and closing my eyes and drifting off the sleep sounded like a great plan. As a laid there, I shut my eyes and my world became black.

What felt like two minutes later, I felt someone softly massaging my head. I blinked a few times and noticed my surroundings were dark. It hadn’t been two minutes, it had been over two hours since I closed my eyes and it took up until now for Shane to come back.

I hastily removed his hand away from my face and sat up.

“How are you feeling?” he asked in a low voice. I stared at him and kept quiet. I was still feeling sick but I didn’t want to tell him that. “I didn’t want to wake you up earlier, you looked so peaceful and I didn’t want to disturb you.”

Damn Shane Gray and his stupid comments. One second I’m mad at him and I wish he would have a bad hair day every single day of his life. Then he made comments like that and I wanted to throw myself on him and never let go.

“Are you feeling any better?” he asked again. Even though the room was pitch black I could see Shane’s face become clearer as he moved closer to me. I shook my head and he frowned. “Nate and Jason are still around if you wanted to know.”

I wanted to say something, but I couldn’t find myself speaking. Instead of speaking, I felt something trickling against my throat and it didn’t feel right. I quickly got off my bed and rushed into the bathroom. I slammed the door shut before Shane could barge in and question what’s wrong.

I was in the bathroom no less than ten seconds and Shane was already banging on the door. I of course puked out anything that was inside of me. I sat with my back to the wall facing the toilet while Shane continued knocking on the door.

“Bella,” he said, “Open up. Are you okay? Can you please let me in?” I knew he heard my disgusting disposal of all those doughnuts and I felt my face flush. He must think I’m weak or one of those anorexic girls he used to date.

I sighed to myself as I stood up and flushed the toilet. I moved towards the sink and grabbed a bottle of mouthwash that was sitting on the sink. I opened it and took a swig; swishing it around in my mouth for half a minute.

“Bella, open up,” he repeated. I spit out the mouthwash and turned on the water.

“I hope you know I didn’t lock the door,” I said. I turned the water off as the door opened and Shane took a few steps forward.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I shouldn’t have told you to do that. I knew you would get sick and be miserable just to prove to me you can do something I know you can’t.”

“I am not miserable,” I said. I pushed Shane aside and walked back towards my bed. I sat on my bed and crossed my legs Indian style. Shane walked over and I saw his silhouette walk closer to me.

“Do you want something?” he asked. He sat on the end of my bed and stared at me.

“No,” I said.

Truth was there was something I wanted. I wanted my mother to be here. She had the ultimate cure for a stomachache, unless it was just a mental thing. She would always spend the night at my bedside rubbing my head until I fell asleep but before I would put my head to my pillow she would give me her special remedy. It was this drink of hers that consisted of sweet ingredients I could never possibly try to recreate.

Shane stood up and walked to the other side of my bed where he sat up with his back against the headboard. I turned my head and stared at him.

“Come closer,” Shane said. I stayed glued to my position and Shane moved closer. As much as I wanted to sit closer to him, I didn’t want to move from my spot. My stomach finally settled and I didn’t want to barf anything out anymore. Shane moved again and reached forward for my arm.

He pulled me into his arms and I gave in and moved closer to him. I leaned into him as I listened to his steady breathing. I placed my right hand on his chest and felt it rise and fall. I was glad I rinsed my mouth with mouthwash since we were so close to one another right now and I was already embarrassed enough for puking.

“What time is it?” I asked.

Shane moved his left hand closer to his face and stared at his watch. “It’s almost eight. Why?”

“No reason,” I said. “Just wanted to see how long I was out for.”

“Almost all day,” Shane said. “Jason kept walking in and staring at you. It was starting to get creepy and of course annoying.”

“Jason is awesome,” I said. I moved slightly and Shane started to rub his fingers up and down my arm. His touch sent chills up and down my body and being close to him was better than an ice cream sundae. “He’s cooler than you by the way. He wouldn’t make a stupid bet like that and let me go through with it.”

“I told you I’m sorry,” Shane said. “I never thought you would actually go through with it. Are you ever going to drop it?”

“I’ll drop it when I start feeling better,” I said. “Now if you have something to give me, give it.”

“What would you like?” he asked. “I’ll get anything for you.”

“I only want one thing.”

“You want your mom’s drink, don’t you?” he asked.

“How do you know about that?” I asked. “I never told you about that.”

“Nate suggested it,” Shane said. “Don’t yell at him but he was worried about you this whole time. He knows you have a sensitive stomach and suggested it.”

“Well I would like to have some,” I said, “but there’s no way I can possibly have any. Don’t tell me you secretly know the recipe because I don’t even know it.”

“I looked over in your dad’s drawers,” Shane admitted, causing me to crack a small smile. “And I found this book full of different things labeled Caroline’s Things and I found a small piece of paper with a recipe on it.”

“I tried to recreate that,” I said. “I couldn’t even make it so thanks for trying.”

“Well I don’t do well in the kitchen if my life depended on it,” Shane said. He held onto my right hand and removed it from his chest. He shifted to his left and went to pick something up. “But I asked Connie for a small favor and in order to do that I had to…” Shane stopped talking and I sat up so I was staring at him.

“You what?” I asked.

“I apologized to that gir- Mitchie,” he said. “I don’t think she believed me but whatever. I asked Connie to make you this.” I reached forward to grab the cup out of Shane’s hand. I sniffed what was in the cup and it resembled my mother’s drink she had made from me many years ago.

“Thank you,” I said as I moved the cup to my lips and took a sip from it. Memories flooded my head as I recalled the drink my mother used to make for me. This drink had the same taste. The sweet taste of honey mixed with just the right amount of a freshly squeezed lemon. Something about this drink made everything better; even if my mother didn’t make it.

“Does it taste the same?” he asked. I held the cup in my hands and looked at Shane, nodding my head. I saw him flash a pearly white smile as I moved the cup back up to my mouth and took more small sips.

“Thank you Shane,” I said. “This was sweet of you. You really didn’t have to do this.”

“I know, but I wanted to,” he said. “I told you I felt bad enough seeing you like that. That’s why I left; I didn’t want to see you puking out your food.”

“Yeah well I’m not really looking my best right now,” I said. I pushed my bangs out of my eyes and stared down into my cup.

“You’re still a beauty to me,” Shane said. He leaned closer and our lips connected. For a split second I wanted to part my lips, but I decided not to.

“You guys!” Jason yelled. Shane and I broke apart and the lights flipped on, blinding me for a minor second. I stared at the door where Jason was standing, holding a doughnut. “Hey you’re up! Great! Now can we do something?”

“Idiot,” Shane muttered standing up from the bed. He looked down at me and took my now empty cup from my hands. “Jason, come on let’s go. She’s still not feeling well.”

“She’s up though,” Jason said. “Can I at least stay in here too?”

“No,” Shane said. Jason ignored his comment and went to sit across from me on my bed.

“Did you sleep well?” he asked. I laughed as I noticed Shane shake his head behind Jason.

“Yeah,” I said. “I slept like a baby.”

“I sleep like a baby too!” Jason said.

“That’s great Jason,” Shane said putting his hand on Jason’s shoulder. “Now why don’t you tell Nate about how well you sleep? He’s much more interested in that than Bella. Let her sleep again.”

“You’re still tired?” Jason asked. “Jeez, you need a lot of sleep.” Jason stood up and took a step backwards. “Okay, well I’ll be back. I see you two want to be alone.” Jason sent a wink to Shane, which caused me to laugh. “I’ll be right outside.”

Jason walked towards the screen door and opened it. He took a step outside and stuck his head back in. “I’ll be watching you.”

“I hate him sometimes,” Shane muttered while I continued to laugh. “He ruins the best moments of my life.”

“You’re acting like I’m never going to kiss you again,” I said standing up and walking over to Shane. I reached for his hand and massaged his knuckles with my thumb.

“Knowing you, you probably won’t do that again,” he said.

“You don’t know me very well Shane Gray,” I said. I stood on my tip toes and placed my lips softly onto his taking him aback. I quickly moved my lips to his cheek and looked up into his eyes. “Still hate Jason?”

“No,” Shane said quickly. I heard Shane’s shaky breathing which caused me to smile to myself. “I wasn’t expecting that from you.”

Everybody must know love is in my heart like a bomb.

That was the crappiest analogy ever, but who cares. Shane Gray makes me think stupid things.